Everyone's a winner: Hit the jackpot with America's 21 top casino golf courses

No. 21: The sixth hole on the Journey at Pechanga - a part of the Pechanga Resort & Casino - drops 175 feet to the fairway below.. (Jason Scott Deegan/Golf Advisor)No. 20: Gene Bates designed a winner with the Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho, an amenity of the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel. (Courtesy of Circling Raven G.C.)No. 19: The North Course at Lake of Isles in North Stonington, Conn. is a Rees Jones design open to the public that caters to gamers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. (Courtesy of Lake of Isles)No. 18: The rolling and hilly parkland Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort has been completely restored and is the most affordable former major championship venue you can play. (Courtesy of French Lick Resort)No. 17: Near Sacramento, Calif., Yocha Dehe was the top-rated course on Golf Advisor in 2015. It is affiliated with the Cache Creek Casino Resort. (Courtesy of Yocha Dehe G.C.)No. 16: Belterra Golf Course - an outdoor playground of the Belterra Casino Resort - attracts gofers from Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis. (Courtesy of Belterra Casino Resort)No. 15: Atunyote, a Tom Fazio design, is one of three standout golf courses at Turning Stone Resort Casino in upstate New York. (Courtesy of Turning Stone Resort Casino)No. 14: Located just south of Phoenix, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes G.C., an amenity of the neighboring Harrah's Ak-Chin Hotel and Casino, features great golf with no housing in sight. (Courtesy of Troon Golf)No. 13: Some golfers believe the Wilderness at Fortune Bay, which is affiliated with the Fortune Bay Resort Casino, is the best public/resort course in Minnesota. (Courtesy of Golf Advisor )No. 12: The lay of the land at Salish Cliffs Golf Club near the Little Creek Casino Resort is pretty much the way Gene Bates found it. (Courtesy of Salish Cliffs G.C.)No. 11: The finishing hole at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas is surrounded by water, including a 37-foot waterfall. (Courtesy of Wynn Las Vegas)No. 10: The conditioning at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort's Mystic Rock is almost always pristine. The Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin is located one mile from the resort entrance. (Courtesy of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort)No. 9: Barona Creek Golf Club, part of the Barona Resort & Casino, consistently ranks as the best casino course in California. (Courtesy of Tim Stahl/Barona Creek G.C.)No. 8: Avoid the hills and bunkers on no. 7 on the Cholla Course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club in Fountain Hills, Ariz. Both The Fort McDowell Casino and the We-Ko-Pa Resort & Conference Center sit across the street. (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa Golf Club )No. 7: The 456-yard 11th hole on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort runs along the spine of a ridge. (Courtesy of French Lick)No. 6: The finishing hole at Saguaro is just like the rest of them at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club -- picturesque. Both The Fort McDowell Casino and the We-Ko-Pa Resort & Conference Center sit across the street. (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa G.C.)No. 5: The par-3 seventh might be the most scenic golf hole at Cascata, the golf headliner in the empire of Caesars Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace and other hotels on the Las Vegas strip. (Courtesy of Cascata)No. 4: From the get-go, you know you're in for a special treat at The Greenbrier's Old White TPC Course. At night, the Casino Club at The Greenbrier is only open to resort guests and members. (Courtesy of The Greenbrier)No. 3: Fallen Oak Golf Club, an amenity of Biloxi's Beau Rivage, showcases the Mississippi Gulf Coast lowcountry. (Courtesy of MGM International)No. 2: Edgewood Tahoe, home of the American Century Championship, is a George Fazio design set on pristine Lake Tahoe. The course has golf packages with numerous South Tahoe casinos including the nextdoor Harrah's. (Courtesy of Rod Hanna Photography)No. 1: Only guests of MGM properties on the Las Vegas strip such as Aria and Bellagio are allowed access to play Shadow Creek. (Jason Scott Deegan/Golf Advisor )

Whether you're a gambler or not, golfers have casinos to thank for building some of the country's best modern public golf courses. While the top casino and golf destination used to be Las Vegas and not much else, these days there are great golf-and-gaming destinations from coast to coast, including most Midwestern states and Southwestern hotbeds like Scottsdale, Palm Springs and San Diego.

Casino owners often times don't feel the need to make money on the golf course itself, but rather provide them as an amenity to visiting whales who need a break from the tables. That means these properties often present top-flight conditioning and less play compared to rival courses in the market. Casino courses on Native American reservations often have advantageous land- and water-use rights, allowing them to build excellent routings in peaceful settings with little if any restrictions.

We're confident in betting on these top 21 golf courses in the U.S. with accompanying casinos. Some of these courses are run by the casino owners or by the tribes themselves, while others are located nearby and partner with the casino and hotel properties.

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Be sure to tell us your favorite casino properties @golfadvisor on Twitter or in the comments below.

Comment: The rocky foothills forced Arthur Hills and partner Steve Forrest to create a tough target test of golf 300 feet above the Temecula Valley floor. This adventurous journey around trees in the middle of fairways and over ponds and creeks ends at a lavish 62,000-square-foot clubhouse home to a great restaurant/bar.

Comment:Gene Bates designed a dramatic course every bit the equal to its more famous neighbor, the Coeur d'Alene Resort course with its famous floating island green. The tall pines, rolling meadows and scenic vistas void of homes are easy on the eyes.

Comment: Bay Area golfers make the 90-mile trek to the Capay Valley to escape the damp and gloomy marine layer and the crush of humanity to enjoy the sun and serene hillsides surrounding this fun Brad Bell design. Yocha Dehe regularly contends for top awards among the Troon Golf family of facilities.

Comment: One of the most affordable Tom Fazio designs you'll ever play runs along the Ohio River between Louisville and Cincinnati in eastern Indiana. There are loads of Fazio's signature bunkers, winding lakes, plenty of tall trees and some nice risk-rewards including the finishing par 5 that works around a lake with the resort as the backdrop.

Comment: The site of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, south of Phoenix, lacks the mystique of the scenic north Scottsdale golf courses, but locals will tell you few, if any, designs in the valley are better than this Australian Sandbelt-inspired layout.

Comment: This Gene Bates design adjacent to the Little Creek Casino Resort spills out across 600 feet of elevation changes in the scenic Kamilche Valley roughly an hour from the Sea-Tac Airport. Your gallery is thousands of majestic evergreens.

Comment: There is no better natural setting for a casino course than Lake Tahoe's sparkling south shore. It's a delightfully playable and classic design by George and Tom Fazio, and there are fewer better 19th holes in golf.

Jason Scott Deegan has reviewed more than 700 courses and golf destinations for some of the industry's biggest publications. His work has been honored by the Golf Writer's Association of America and the Michigan Press Association. Follow him on Twitter at @WorldGolfer.